AUSTIN – All the votes are counted in last month's election, but the Republican majority in the Texas House of Representatives keeps growing.
Just five weeks after winning re-election to his seat as a Democrat, State Rep. Allan Ritter of Nederland will switch to the Republican Party before the coming legislative session.
“We know that East Texas has historically been pretty conservative on a lot of the big bills, and so we welcome Allan, I think it’s fantastic,” said State Rep.-Elect Larry Gonzales, R-Round Rock.
Gonzales won in November as part of a republican wave. This latest victory virtually assures he will be part of a 100-vote strong Republican super-majority in the House of Representatives.
That means Republican legislators can suspend the house rules of order, dip into the state's rainy day fund and place a Constitutional amendment on the ballot all without any help from the Democrats.
While one Democratic defector is really all Republicans needed, more would be better. At least one more may be coming.
State Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, won re-election as a Democrat in November, too; his staff could not comment on the record, but according to KVUE's news partners at the Austin American-Statesman, he is expect to announce a party shift soon, too, angering Texas Democrats.
”We think its fair to expect that Texas voters who have decided to support a law-maker as a member of the Democratic Party would get the opportunity to decide if they support that person as a Republican Party,” said Kirsten Gray, spokeswoman for the Texas Democratic Party.
While there is not much Texas Democrats can do now, Julie Sayers has plenty of work to do as editor and publisher of the Texas State Directory. For 75 years it has been the authoritative source for information on elected officials in Texas.
“People are very conscious of what’s in it, and I make sure its right,” Sayers said.
